Support and divider for displaying greeting cards



June 30, 1964 v GEORGE 3,139,186

SUPPORT AND DIVIDER FOR DISPLAYING GREETING CARDS Filed Oct. 3, 1965 I43 ihlll llllll) 4 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. VAN GEORGE BY mvw W ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,139,186 Patented June 30, 1964 3,139,186 SUPPORT AND DIVIDER FOR DISPLAYING GREETING CARDS Van George, 320 Orange Grove, South Pasadena, Calif. Filed Oct. 3, 1963, Ser. No. 313,582 1 Claim. (Cl. 21155) This invention relates to display stands for greeting cards and to devices for supporting such cards in an orderly arrangement. More particularly, the invention involves a structural relationship between a supporting tray and divider members which retain the cards of one kind in a stack upon the supporting tray.

The subject matter of this invention is regarded to be an improvement over card rack dividers of the type disclosed in my United States Patent No. 3,002,632. As disclosed therein, spring clip members have already been used for fastening a card rack divider panel to a supporting tray. These divider panels are provided as an upstanding flange formed integrally with a card support plate that rests on the upper surface of a conventional support tray. However, it has been found that essentially the same results and functions may be derived with a less expensive device made of plastic. But the use of plastic material for a divider panel has necessitated that certain unobvious changes be made in structural detail, and these changes are regarded as being of inventive importance.

In brief, this invention comprises an inclined support tray having a groove formed in its upper supporting surface. The groove extends parallel to the upper edge of said tray and located for receiving the lip of a plastic card divider members. The plastic divider members comprise a clasp portion and an upright projecting flange and are mounted to the support tray with a positive locking action. The clasp portion of each divider member includes a pair of legs which define a U-shaped channel; the flange is formed integrally with one of said legs. A locking lip formed along the bottom edge of said one leg is turned inwardly and located for being engaged with the groove of the supporting tray. Both legs of the clasp portion are slightly convergent at their free ends, being spaced apart a distance less than the thickness of said support tray so that the locking lip will be pressed into engagement with the groove of the tray.

One object of this invention, therefore, is to provide divider members made of plastic which can be inexpensively manufactured in large quantities; a divider member that may be mounted to the upper edge of a support tray with a snap action which locks the member to the tray but permits its longitudinal adjustment to accommodate cards of diiferent widths.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent in view of the following description and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings forming a part of this application and in which like parts are identified by like reference numerals throughout the same,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a display stand having card divider members mounted to support trays, as in the preferred manner contemplated by the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a divider member as shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front plan view and detail of a divider member mounted to a support tray; and

FIG. 4 is a side view and section taken along lines 44 of FIG. 3 and showing the locking relationship of the support tray groove and the lip edge of a divider member.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is illustrated a portion of a display stand comprising support trays 10 and a plurality of plastic divider members 11. Each divider member comprises a clasp portion 12 and an integrally formed upstanding flange 13. It is to be understood that flange 13 serve as a barrier between diiferent kinds of greeting cards, and a pair of divider members will serve to confine the cards of one group in a particular area upon support tray 10.

The upper supporting surface of trays 10 are formed with a continuous groove 14 extending parallel relative to the upper edge 15. Moreover, each groove 14 is located proximate to the upper edge of the tray in which it is formed.

The clasp portion of each divider member comprises a pair of legs 16 and 17 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, said legs defining a generally U-shaped channel 18. Flange 13 extends outwardly from leg 17 in perpendicular relation to the channel, thereby forming a card barrier above the supporting surface of tray 10 to which the divider member is mounted.

Importantly, the lower or bottom edge of leg 17 is formed with an upwardly turned lip 19 located for engagement with groove 14 of a tray 10, while legs 16 and 17 straddle on opposite sides of the tray. Legs 16 and 17 are made slightly convergent in the direction of their free ends and are spaced apart a distance less than the thickness of tray 10. Thus, once the divider members 13 have been mounted to tray 10 they will be rigidly held thereto. However, each may be separately moved longitudinally across the faces of their supporting trays in the direction of grooves 14 to provide rapid adjustment in spacing to accommodate cards of varying widths.

It has been indicated that it is intended that divider members 13 should be made of plastic material. Such material is particularly useful and may be cast in molding dies, thereby enhancing its manufacture by a very rapid process which is relatively inexpensive compared with costs of machine-forming metal or wooden parts. In addition, plastic material can be selected for its strength, rigidity and flexibility, as required. In this regard, the material should possess suflicient resiliency so that legs 16 and 17 can be sprung apart, permitting the clasp to be wedged over the upper end of a tray.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example thereof, and that various changes in shape and size may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the attached claim, and each of such changes is contemplated.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In combination, an inclined supporting tray having a groove formed in its upper supporting surface, said groove extending parallel to the upper edge of said tray and being proximate thereto; and a plurality of plastic divider members for separating greeting cards, each divider member comprising a clasp having legs that define a U-shaped channel and an integrally formed flange that extends from one leg of said clasp perpendicular to the channel, the bottom edge of said one leg having an inwardly turned lip located for engagement with a groove of said tray while the upper edge of said tray is disposed within the U-shaped channel, and the legs of said clasp being slightly convergent at their free ends and and spaced apart a distance less than the thickness of said support tray.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,596,225 Anderson Aug. 17, 1926 2,869,732 Ganz Jan. 20, 1959 3.002.632 George Oct. 3, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 516,871 Belgium Jan. 31, 1953 

